Episode 27: Collaborating + cultivating in demand teams, with Amanda Kenafake
“If you only look at tax, you’re potentially missing out on so many other opportunities…If you’re not looking at tax and you’re only looking at a lot of the other opportunities, you’re probably in trouble as well. It has to be that really holistic view”
Sam has a brilliant conversation with Amanda Kenafake, from Power Tynan, an In Demand Accounting firm in Toowoomba, Queensland. Sam and Amanda talk about Amanda’s background and career progression, and the challenges of running a business the size of Power Tynan.
They dive into how Power Tynan proactively supports their staff, engages with their clients and measures the challenging lead indicators around productivity and efficiency. Amanda and Sam discuss the changes in the industry in the last 30 years and what that means for graduates entering the industry now.
They finish their chat covering the importance of collaboration and Amanda’s top three tips for accountants.
Connect with Amanda at Power Tynan https://www.powertynan.com.au
Listen to a snippet
What we cover in this episode
● About Amanda and Power Tynan and how they’ve come to be an in demand accountant firm
● The challenges of running a business the size of Power Tynan
● How Amanda balances the combination of CEO mindset and client work
● Tips for shifting mindset and metrics on different models in accounting firms
● Productivity, efficiency, and measuring the challenging lead indicators
● How Power Tynan proactively supports their staff, engages with their clients and the metrics they use
● How they implemented these systems and the mindset change that was required for staff
● The benefits of keeping in regular contact with clients throughout the year
● Teaching the fundamental skills to the next generation of accountants in this much faster-paced world
● The changes in the industry in the last 30 years and why accountants need to be specialised going forward
● The importance of the holistic view and collaboration between different skillsets
● Amanda’s top 3 tips for accountants
Quotes
“[At Power Tynan] we try not to just be that traditional, do the tax conversations. It's more about how can we help all of our clients achieve their goals, stay relevant to the clients, industry and their business so that we are always constantly challenging and helping them? [It’s] really looking after our clients from a whole holistic perspective.” ~ Amanda
“We try to make sure when we can't do it ourselves, we have trusted people that we can refer our clients and friends on to that can help them in in the areas that they need.” ~ Amanda
“If you only focus on productive time, I'll nearly guarantee you your write offs will be through the roof because people will be putting time down on their timesheets just to make that productive time. If you put too much focus on one of the KPIs, I think that's when you've got the potential to really lose it on others.” ~ Amanda
“If you can connect the [staff] and how they're feeling and what they're doing, and overarch that over your numbers, you just get the complete picture, and you can see what's going on.” ~ Amanda
“The coronavirus probably helped a little bit with this but we have [a goal to] make sure to touch base for the sake of touching base not for any reason, just to make sure everything's going well. And probably 9 times out of 10, something will come out of that. The client says, ‘Actually I was going to ring you’ or ‘I was going to need to talk to you about what I should do with finance,’ or something like that. They know you're always there, but it's just giving them that opportunity, because you're ringing them.” ~ Amanda
“You've got to have that technical [knowledge] to a point. The fact that it changes so often these days, it's more that you've got to learn how to interpret and read, not learn something off by heart. I think [for new graduates] it's actually having that understanding around how to understand, interpret, and then apply that knowledge from a practical point of view.” ~ Amanda
“If you only look at tax you’re potentially missing out on so many other opportunities…If you're not looking at tax and you're only looking at a lot of the other opportunities, you're probably in trouble as well. It has to be that really holistic view.” ~ Amanda
Links
EverPerform is the program that Power Tynan use for analytics and metrics.
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